Liverpool: Trent Alexander Arnold is facing a critical stretch at Anfield

Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold is likely facing a critical stretch in the next couple of weeks, given the fact that Joe Gomez sustained an ankle injury while on international duty with England.

Jurgen Klopp has preferred Gomez as his number one right back, but Alexander-Arnold would be the natural, like-for-like replacement while he’s out injured. Reports have suggested that Gomez will be sidelined for approximately a month.

Trent needs to make the most of this opportunity

With Gomez’s injury, Alexander-Arnold will likely be Klopp’s go-to right back for Liverpool’s upcoming matches in both the Premier League and the Champions League.

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Within the next two weeks, Liverpool play Crystal Palace in the league, Manchester City in the Champions League (twice), and Everton in the season’s third installment of the Merseyside derby – Klopp was not happy about having to play Everton in between the two legs against City in the Champions League.

Before his disappointing outing at Old Trafford vs. Manchester United when Marcus Rashford gave him a difficult afternoon, Trent had made a blistering start to his senior Liverpool career, making 21 appearances across all competitions.

His free-kick goal in the first leg of the Champions League qualifier against Hoffenheim had jump-started his confidence and Klopp quickly began taking a liking to him; there was healthy competition for a starting spot between he and Gomez, especially with Nathaniel Clyne’s extended injury absence.

He needs to put the Manchester United performance behind him

Alexander-Arnold hasn’t played any minutes for Liverpool since his underwhelming performance against Manchester United, but he’ll likely be tossed right back into the starting eleven vs. Crystal Palace this weekend.

The 19-year old took to social media to apologize to Liverpool fans for his lackluster performance, and was in a noticeable amount of disappointment following the final whistle.

Despite the self-diagnosis of a performance that required an apology, Klopp backed the youngster after the match, and still believes that his quality will continue to shine through (via LFC.com):

"The reason he is playing is not because he is Trent or a Scouser, it’s only because of his quality. That’s why he played [against Manchester United]. His quality is obvious and his areas for improvement are obvious as well.[The fact] that his strength is a bit more in the offensive part of the position is obvious. The first goal, he was involved 100 percent; that was of course not our best defending but not from him alone.He is the youngest of all the players who made a mistake around that situation. It can always happen, that’s not a big thing. At his age, he will make mistakes – there is no chance to avoid them constantly.Then it’s all about the reaction, and I think he reacted in the game pretty well. He was not too impressed. He is on a very good way."

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Klopp confirmed in his pre-Crystal Palace press conference that Clyne could be in contention for some minutes during Liverpool’s run-in as early as Saturday’s league clash at Palace, but Alexander-Arnold is the obvious first choice available to start at right back.

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